Slash By Andy Squire
AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, Slash, Journey and Rush were among the big names in rock music honoured tonight at the 6th Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honour the annual awards ceremony organised by Classic Rock Magazine which took place at London’s Roundhouse.
Legendary shock-rocker Alice Cooper was this year’s Master of Ceremonies, along with TV presenter and all-round rock fan Sarah Cawood, and guests were treated – for the first time in the awards’ history – to exclusive live performances from the new band from Thunder guitarist Luke Morley - The Union, US rock gods Alter Bridge and power pop originators Cheap Trick.
Canadian rockers Rush were honoured with the Living Legend award (sponsored by Marshall), heralding the first time a band has won this prestigious accolade - previous recipients include Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop. Frontman Geddy Lee flew to London to pick up the trophy.
Winners of six reader-voted categories were announced during this evening. Rock titans AC/DC sent in a video message to thank fans for voting them as Band Of The Year (sponsored by Live Nation), following an exceptional 12 months which saw them go to No. 1 in the UK album charts (for AC/DC: Iron Man 2) and a world tour which included a monstrous headlining performance at Donington for the Download Festival in June.
Reissue Of The Year (sponsored by Alchemy) was awarded to The Rolling Stones for their highly regarded masterpiece ‘Exile On Main Street’, which, 38 years after its original release, went in at No. 1 in the UK upon re-release in May. Ronnie Wood collected the award on behalf of the band.
Rock icon Slash picked up the award for Album Of The Year (sponsored by Mascot), beating off competition from Iron Maiden, KISS, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Gaslight Anthem, Wolfmother plus many more. His solo debut album ‘Slash’ was released as part of an exclusive “fan pack” deal with Classic Rock Magazine, whose highly collectable ‘Slash’ issue with a deluxe version of the album went on sale a month before its general release on Roadrunner Records in May.
Event Of The Year was awarded to AOR rock legends Journey, in honour of their 1981 single ‘Don’t Stop Believin’, going back into the UK Top 10. A cult classic rock anthem, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ went stratospheric after the cast of TV phenomenon Glee covered the song in the first series. ITV’s The X-Factor got in on the action, with 2009 winner Joe McElderry covering the song, propelling the track into the Top 10 with a peak position of No. 6 in the New Year. Guitarist Neil Schon personally collected the award
Having opened the awards event with a three-song performance, The Union (ex Thunder guitarist Luke Morley and ex-Winterville vocalist & guitarist Peter Shoulder) walked away with the award for Best New Band (sponsored by Sonisphere). Acclaimed Dr Feelgood “rockumentary” Oil City Confidential was crowned Film Of The Year (sponsored by E1 Entertainment), with director Julien Temple picking up the award.
A further 11 ‘special’ awards, as chosen by a Classic Rock Magazine panel, were handed out tonight, each one designed to mark and celebrate the remarkable career and achievements of its recipient.
Outstanding Contribution (sponsored by Monitor Audio) was awarded to one the world’s greatest rock icons John Paul Jones, the dark horse of Led Zeppelin whose multi-instrumentation became his secret weapon and created such beloved songs such as ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Now one third of supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, Jones continues to wow fans all over the world.
Tony Iommi took to the stage to honour his long-standing band mate and good friend Geezer Butler with the award for Metal Guru (sponsored by Kawasaki), celebrating Butler’s services to metal, and the huge part he played as the co-lyricist and bassist of Black Sabbath, and current position as member of Heaven & Hell.
He was mobbed at this year’s inaugural High Voltage Festival – the brand new London rock festival launched by Classic Rock and Mama Group – and this year saw prog legend and Planet Rock presenter Rick Wakeman awarded with the Spirit Of Prog (sponsored by Mean Fiddler), honouring his musicianship in the band Yes and also for his solo work which has seen him hit 50 million in album sales. Rockabilly singer Imelda May - who counts Jeff Beck as a fan - injected some glamour into the evening’s proceedings by picking up the award for Breakthrough Act (sponsored by Universal / Lost).
With one of the most distinctive vocals in rock music, ex Black Sabbath and Deep Purple singer and musician Glenn Hughes was tonight honoured with the Childline Rocks award. English post-punk band Killing Joke were presented with the trophy for Innovator (sponsored by Fender)– marking their unique evolution of sound over the last 30 plus years which has incorporated electronic, synth and alternative rock and influenced a generation of rock acts including Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More and Tool.
The award for Classic Songwriter (sponsored by Rock Radio) was given to the creator of three classic British rock bands – The Move, ELO and Wizzard. Roy Wood personally accepted his award, in recognition of the number of hits he wrote for these bands. The Classic Album Award (sponsored by Eagle Vision) went to one of the live acts of the evening, Cheap Trick, for the triple platinum selling album that propelled them into international stardom, ‘Cheap Trick at Budokan’, which included the smash hit track ‘I Want You To Want Me’.
The Marshall ‘11’ award – given to those artists and musicians who represent rock ‘n’ roll excess and livin’ on the edge – went to German rock guitarist Michael Schenker, whose fame as a founding member of The Scorpions and later the lead guitar player for UFO has given him universal recognition as one of the most legendary figures in metal guitar. Tribute was paid to the late, great Ronnie James Dio with the Tommy Vance Inspiration award (sponsored by Metropolis) – collected by his widow Wendy – whose powerful voice and command of the iconic ‘devil horns’ hand gesture placed him firmly in the rock and metal canon.